Snow & Middle Names
by the Anastasia Collection
Summary: [ANASTASIA] By Ashley. Train-wreck trekking, thru snow to spring. ©98. Plz read&review, thx!


**"Snow & Middle Names" **   
by Ashley 

Summary: [ANASTASIA] Train-wreck trekking, thru snow to spring. ©98. Plz read&review, thx!   
~*~ 

"Yes, I am finished now," said Vlad. They could finally move on from their campsite in the mountains, after a little tree-break he had taken. 

"Finally!," exclaimed Anya, "Can we move on now?? My feet are freezing in my boots!" 

Dimitri snorted. She was complaining -- again! "If that's what Your Imperial Highness would like, I suppose we had better get to it before you decide to cut off our heads." 

Anya was _not_ pleased. He was being rude -- again! She was about to retort when Vlad said to stop their bickering. He said they'd better get on. Anya stuck her tongue out at Dimitri as they began to move on. Then she turned her back on him and followed Vlad, carrying the smaller suitcase. 

Then -- OOF!! "Ahhh!!!" shouted Anya. She turned around and saw Dimitri picking up snow for another snowball. Her blood boiled and dropping her suitcase, she got her own ammunition and hurled it at Dimitri. That did it. They were off, throwing snowballs at each other, laughing and shouting. 

Vlad rolled his eyes. Just like two children! Would they ever behave? He chuckled. An unspoken attraction, indeed. 

~*~ 

Several hours later, the foursome stopped for the night in an abandoned cabin. The cabin was old, but kept out the cold winter air for the most part. Anya sat down on a pine bough, her make-shift bed. Strangely, she could almost remember a cabin in the woods a long time ago... 

"Got the fire going!," announced Dimitri proudly, backing away from the fireplace, covered in soot and ash. Anya fought the impulse to laugh. But Vlad didn't, for he burst out laughing, which in turn made Anya crack up, too. He ignored them. Pooka sneezed. "Great, a _dog_ is allergic to ME!" 

"Dimitri Alexandrovich, that is one of the funniest things I have ever seen happen to you!," laughed Vlad, "But if you will excuse me, I need to have a little private time outside." He chuckled all the way out the cabin door. 

Dimitri sat on the floor by Anya, trying to get the soot out of his hair. Anya asked, "Alexandrovich. Is that your patronymic?" 

"Yes, Your Grace, it is." 

"Nice to know that..." said Anya. "Dimitri Alexandrovich Servensky. Sounds very Russian." 

"I guess it would be since it _is_ Russian." 

Anya sighed. "A lot of kids in the orphanage would have died to know their patronymics. Some knew them from before their parents died. I never knew mine." She smiled happily. "But now maybe I do! If I _am_ the Grand Duchess, I'd be Anastasia Nicholaievna." Pooka licked her hand and she rubbed his head. 

Dimitri replied, "I suppose it would be." Secretly he figured it really wasn't, since he was sure that the real Anastasia Nicholaievna was long gone. Dimitri thought on this. So deep he was in thought, that he didn't hear Vlad come back in. 

Anya, however, did. "Vlad," she said, "What's your patronymic?" 

Vlad happily replied that it was Vasilovich. "It was also my last name!," he said. "Now, dinner!" The three grabbed their tin plates and ate flat, hard biscuits and water. When Pooka found his hard, he growled at it. "Journey cake," said Vlad proudly, "I learned the recipe from a visiting American in about 1892. He and his family had heard about it from family who had traveled their American frontier. He said it kept a very long time." They finished their small meal and settled down on pine bough beds to sleep. Soon Dimitri was dozing, oblivious to the new snow storm blowing outside. 

"Ugh! He can sleep through anything!," said Vlad, shaking his head. Pooka barked a reply. "Even he agrees!" Vlad yawned. "Good night, Your Highness." 

"Goodnight, Vlad." Anya yawned and pulled her coat over her. She thought about the patronymic conversation. How she had always wished for one, to know who she belonged to! And now she might just have one. Nicholaievna. Vlad and Dimitri were lucky to know their's. A patronymic wasn't just a name, it identified who you were, a symbol of honor and family, something Anya longed for. 

She smiled. She'd know for sure once they reached Paris. 

_(continues as in the movie)_ __

... 

ANASTASiA™ is copyright of 20thC.Fox, etc. ^_^ 

PS. Believe it or not, this is a work of fiction. All the incidents, names, and characters are imaginary.   
Any resemblence to actual persons etc, living or dead, is completely coincidental. ^_~ 

written by Ashley ©98, edited by SimbiAni™ ©2G4 


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